Director, Tax Planning and Abatement or Seattle

Fleet

Mercer Island, WA

Fleet Data Centers designs, builds and operates mega-scale data center campuses. Fleet provides its customers with flexibility and predictability to meet their upside demand forecasts, addressing a key need in the market as traditional leased models are struggling to keep pace with the demand for new Cloud and AI infrastructure. Fleet is led by a team of industry veterans that have already made a lasting imprint on the evolution of global digital infrastructure and are committed and uniquely capable of up leveling data center development scale and operations in the face of rising demand.

Fleet is well positioned to bring in-house design, engineering and operational capabilities to collaborate with customers on tailored solutions for campuses of 500MW+. This unique model enables Fleet to provide the world’s largest and most sophisticated customers with a seamless extension of their own data center fleets with constant access to design innovation. Fleet is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with satellite offices in Seattle, WA and Arlington, VA.

The Director of Tax Strategy & Abatement will own all tax incentive, abatement, and government relations across the company’s multi-state data center portfolio. This includes identifying available incentive programs, leading negotiations with state/local authorities, coordinating with external consultants, ensuring compliance, and enabling tax-optimized pricing for customers. This is a high-impact strategic role with direct influence on financial performance and competitive position.

The successful candidate will have experience and practical expertise in the following:

• Develop comprehensive tax strategies for all existing and future data center locations.
• Evaluate available tax programs (e.g., sales/use tax exemptions, property tax abatements, personal property tax credits, construction incentives).
• Build financial models showing incentive value, NPV impact, and customer benefit pass-through.

• Build relationships with state/local tax authorities, departments of revenue, and economic development councils.
• Lead negotiations for tax abatement and incentive packages that maximize company value.
• Represent the organization in government meetings, committees, and regulatory discussions.
• Work with consultants to prepare, file, and manage incentive applications.
• Coordinate submission of construction schedules, capex breakdowns, staffing plans, and operational data as required.
• Track progress and secure approvals efficiently.

• Own compliance calendar for all states, ensuring timely submission of:
• Annual reports
• Certifications
• Usage tracking
• Ensure incentive utilization aligns with state requirements to avoid claw backs or penalties.

• Partner with Sales, Legal, and Finance to pass through tax benefits to customers collocating in the facilities.
• Build tax-efficient product/pricing structures leveraging incentives.
• Work cross-functionally with FP&A, Accounting, Construction, and Procurement to align tax planning with project timelines.
• Support entity strategy, asset classification, and long-term tax planning.

• Create roadmap for future tax team (analysts, managers).
• Build internal processes, SOPs, documentation libraries, and system requirements for scalability.

· Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Taxation, or a related field; MBA is a plus.

• 8 plus years in state and local taxes, tax incentives, economic development, or government-facing tax strategy.
• Strong experience working with multi-state incentive programs (ideally for data centers, manufacturing, or large capital…